Tag Archives: ballroom dancing

Dec1

Dancing With The Stars Finale

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Dancing With The Stars Finale

Hellooo everyone! I got roped back into Dancing With The Stars this season because one of my favorite figure skaters and personalities, Johnny Weir, was competing. I was looking forward to him taking the Mirror Ball trophy the entire season to redeem himself from his not so hot competitive skating circuit – especially his lackluster Olympic efforts.

Unfortunately, Johnny and my other favorite – the adorable Disney channel star, Skai Jackson, both got eliminated in the semi-finals which left Nelly, Nev Schulman, Kaitlyn Bristowe, and Justina Machado competing to take the cake. To be honest, I would have been fine with anyone BUT Kaitlyn Bristowe winning so, naturally, she won. -_-

Due to a lack of cable TV in my apartment, I have been watching DWTS once it airs on Hulu, usually on Tuesday or Wednesday night. However, when I showed up to work at my family home Tuesday morning, I couldn’t stand the anticipation and had my parents tell me the winner. Y’all know I hate surprises!

After finding out that Kaitlyn had won, I didn’t have much of a desire to even watch the finale but I knew that Derek Hough was dancing and I really wanted to see that. I also watched the freestyle dances of Nev, Nelly, and Justina. In my opinion, Nev’s Broadway-esque dance to “Singing In The Rain” stole the show and it was exciting to behold because I have never seen anything like it on DWTS before.

Of course, no one beats Derek Hough and his performance was the major highlight of my finale viewing. That and the fact that my Johnny watched all of the dances with me and that was really nice because I had a rough week and it was fun to see him have his mind blown by Derek’s moves!

The entirety of the season, I didn’t care for the champion, Kaitlyn Bristowe, at all. I thought that she lacked the personality of a lot of the other competitors and it showed in her performances. There is no denying that she’s a great dancer but she just didn’t move me (ba dum chh) in any way shape or form.

I don’t plan on watching DWTS again unless there’s someone I really like competing. I did have a lot of fun watching this season, though, and it was nice to have something both creative and lighthearted to tune in to. Also, call me when Tyra Banks is no longer the hostess THANKS!

How did you feel about the DWTS finale? Who was your favorite couple this season? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

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Sep24

Guilty Pleasure: Dancing With The Stars Edition

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Guilty Pleasure: Dancing With The Stars Edition

Hi! I have plenty of guilty pleasure TV shows that I am always eager to put on when I have the apartment to myself on Wednesday evenings. Johnny has band practice so when I get home from work I plop myself in front of the TV and binge to my heart’s content. We’re talking America’s Next Top Model, My 600 Lb. Life, Dr. Pimple Popper, and most recently: Dancing With The Stars.

I used to be a HUGE DWTS fan back in the day and would tune in season after season with my parents. This bonding time was officially dubbed “Middle Aged Monday” and I lived for it. Despite such fond memories of watching the show, I became uninterested after a while. I was so sick of all of the crappy reality stars and D list celebrities that the show just fell by the wayside.

However, when I learned that one of my favorite figure skaters, Johnny Weir, is competing this season, I snapped back like a rubber band and turned my free Wednesday evening into DWTS time. Because I haven’t been watching in forever and also COVID, I didn’t realize how much the show has changed.

Not only is Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews not hosting but Len Goodman is also not a judge, replaced by Derek Hough. Len will be popping in from time to time this season via video chat as it is not safe for him to travel from England at the moment. This switch is fine because I adore the Hough siblings. But if Tom and Erin aren’t hosting, then who is? Tyra Banks, of course.

Now, normally, when I hear “Tyra Banks”, I am stoked. I love her often times more than I love myself and I was ready to see her in action. Unfortunately, she was so GOTDAMN annoying I was almost ready to fast forward her talking. All she did was speak about herself, try to relate dancing to modeling, and give meaningless commentary. By the end of the episode, I had a Tom and Erin sized hole in my heart and felt completely unimpressed by this swap.

Despite not being a huge fan of the new hostess, I forgot how much fun DWTS is. The costumes, the fantastic music, excellent judges, uber talented pros, and (occasionally) enticing celebrities makes for TV heaven for me. I so enjoyed seeing stars like Johnny Weir, Nelly, AJ McLean, Skai Jackson, and Nev Schulman take the floor and all it made me want to do was take up ballroom dancing myself.

Dancing With The Stars is a perfect show for me to put on after work because I can still get chores done and make my dinner during celebrities I don’t care about. I’m already ready for them to “trim the fat” by eliminating the people who don’t have a change in hell of winning. But, for now, I am okay with sitting back and watching the spectacle. 🙂

Do you watch Dancing With The Stars? Who do you think is going to win this season? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Apr16

Dancing As A Way To Keep A Healthy Lifestyle

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Dancing As A Way To Keep A Healthy Lifestyle

If you are looking for some low-impact activities that can be beneficial to your health, you might want to go for something that offers a good balance of strength training and cardio. Dancing offers a good way to have fun while keeping your body fit and healthy. It has many benefits, like some of the following. But, before you decide to take dancing lessons, you need to buy the right uniforms. You can either shop at a physical store or buy online from sites such as Just for Kix. Let’s get to it:

Boosting Cognitive Health:

Dancing has been used effectively to treat people who suffer from Parkinson’s disease. Moreover, studies have shown that dancing boosts your memory. When it comes to the health of your brain, learning how to dance engages the major parts of your brain: cerebellum, motor cortex, somatosensory cortex, and basal ganglia. According to a certain study, out of all of the activities that elderly people partake in, only dancing was shown to reduce the risk of developing dementia.

Improving Lung and Heart Health:

Different types of dance offer an aerobic workout that aids in strengthening your lung and heart muscles and this averts chronic conditions such as heart disease later in life. The harder you breathe and the faster your heart beats during dancing, the better the workout your cardiovascular system gets. If you have a strong heart, it will be able to pump blood throughout your body with less effort, lowering your chances of suffering from stroke and high blood pressure.

Alleviating Stress:

Dancing is an activity that provides the brain with double the pleasure because it involves listening to music and physical movement. If you have a dancing partner, your stress levels will decrease as your serotonin levels increase. This allows you to leave your worries behind as you focus on dancing with your partner. And, as exercise and music therapy gets into your brain, you will develop a positive mindset that reduces anxiety and stress.

Encouraging Social Interaction:

Dancing is a social activity that allows you to interact with other people. Social engagement improves your outlook and mood whilst reinforcing strong brain health. When you interact and converse with other people, you reinforce the brain’s neural pathways; this helps your brain cells to communicate effectively into old age.

Enhancing Flexibility:

The stretching, warm-ups, and reaching that occur in dancing will aid in loosening and lubricating your joints as well as strengthening your muscles. Stiff and tight muscles result in the inflammation, pains, and aches that happen during injury recovery and aging. When you increase your muscle pliability, you will be optimizing your coordination and preventing injury.

Strengthening Muscles and Endurance:

Activities like dancing usually tone and strengthen the key muscle groups: core, legs, arms, and back. The moderate movements burn calories, make you sweat, and aid in muscle growth. When you exercise, microscopic tears occur in your muscle tissues and this tells the body to rebuild the muscles bigger and stronger.

Increasing Spatial Awareness and Balance:

The coordination that you need to dance promotes your agility while improving your balance skills. This is very important for older adults because they need to retain their mobility to prevent debilitating falls. Although they can just install staircase railings and suction grab bars to hold onto, exercises like dancing strengthen their spatial awareness and agility, which helps in all aspects of life.

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Dancing has a wide variety of benefits for people of all ages. You do not have to start dancing when you are worried about your health; you can do it at any point of your life. The earlier you begin, the better you will be – and it’s fun!

May4

An Open Letter To DWTS

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An Open Letter To DWTS

I admit it. I freaking LOVE Dancing With The Stars. As often as I can, I’ll tune in for my “Middle Aged Monday” routine of watching the program. So far, I’ve loved season 22 and have been enamored by the hunky Nyle DiMarco who showcases an amazing talent for ballroom dancing and just so happens to be hearing impaired. His challenge leaves the judges and sometimes myself included wondering just how in the hell he can express such gorgeous musicality without being able to hear one note of the songs being played. Despite this incredible talent that Nyle possesses, I’ve been utterly disappointed by the interactions seen throughout the show between Nyle and cast mates. There is an apparent lack of person first speaking and complete disrespect…Most surprisingly from his partner, Peta Murgatroyd. Allow me to explain:

Throughout the season, I’ve noticed Peta’s continuous instinct to talk over Nyle as if he can’t answer for himself when being spoken to by the judges or hostess, Erin Andrews. This instinct to jump the gun and open her mouth before Nyle can even begin to start answering in ASL comes across as pushy and disrespectful. I was also completely disturbed by the ease of which she referred to her partner as “the deaf guy” on this Monday’s show. As soon as those words escaped from her mouth, my jaw dropped to the ground.

Excuse me? The deaf guy? You mean your partner? I couldn’t believe that she had the audacity to refer to her partner and supposed friend in such a degrading way simply based on if he can hear or not. I was also kind of disgusted by the fact that she said this while speaking alone to the cameras because that just leaves you to wonder if Nyle even knows that he’s being referred to in such a demeaning matter.

One of the first rules that you learn when you’re working with people with a challenge of any kind is to utilize “person first speaking”. IE: Not “the blind person” but “the person who has a visual impairment”. By referring to Nyle as “the deaf guy” was essentially letting the world know that she only sees her partner as being defined by his disability. Not by his personality, his staggering good looks (wink!), or his ability as a dancer.

I commend Peta for her hard work on teaching Nyle how to ballroom dance and her excellent choreography. However, all of her accomplishments as his partner is being dragged through the mud by her blatant insensitivity which is showcased in her constant need to speak over him and by degrading her so called friend. Before Dancing With The Stars chooses to bring on another celebrity with any kind of disability I suggest some major sensitivity training for all parties involved on the show. I’m honestly baffled that nothing has been done yet with such obvious cases this season and DWTS is definitely losing the respect of an avid fan.

Nov25

Bindi Irwin – DWTS Season 21 Champion

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Bindi Irwin – DWTS Season 21 Champion

Hellooo everyone and happy Hump Day! Last night the darling seventeen year old, Bindi Irwin, was crowned the champion of Dancing With The Stars season 21. Bindi and her partner and now six time champion Derek Hough hoisted the source of envy throughout the season, the Mirror Ball Trophy, and celebrated with the entire season 21 cast after their win. Bindi beat out former Backstreet Boy, Nick Carter, and American hero, Alek Skarlatos, who finished second and third, respectively.

Bindi danced her way into the hearts of millions including myself and my parents who enjoyed watching her so much this season. The charming young Aussie animal lover with the infectious laugh and personality graced the dance floor every week with innovative routines that were visually appealing and technically beautiful. And with a partner like Derek Hough – what could go wrong?! Hubba hubba.

I simply adore Bindi Irwin and think that she is such a fantastic role model for people everywhere. Her outstanding work ethic and sunny outlook on life is something that everyone can take note of. I tip my cap to Miss Irwin and like everyone has parroted throughout this season, her father really would be so proud of her. Here’s to you Bindi: Season 21 DWTS champion!

^^^ SO sweet!

I hope all of you are having a fantastic day so far! Who watched this season of Dancing With The Stars? Are you glad that Bindi was crowned champion? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Oct28

Dancing With The Stars – Week 7 (Halloween Episode!)

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Dancing With The Stars – Week 7 (Halloween Episode!)

It was Halloween night in the ballroom of ABC Family’s Dancing With The Stars tonight, and it was full of frightening fun! Ghouls, goblins, and zombies took the stage for some scary good…and not so good performances! Here’s a few of the dances that took the cake for me tonight:

Bethany and Derek’s Paso Doble: I’ve never commended Bethany before in my dances of the night, because I’ve never really cared to. But OMG. This little lady was FANTASTIC tonight. I loved this Paso! It was dark, mature, edgy, and so freaking cool. I felt like I was watching a diva queen Little Red Riding Hood with Maleficent hair perform. This routine was the perfect mix of Halloween fun and Paso technique. Not once did I feel like Bethany was being over shadowed or couldn’t handle the theatrics or additional performers in the routine. Derek Hough is too good for words. His choreography and concept ideas are one in a million. I was in love with the red hooded drummers and the creepy soundtrack to this dance. Drop dead gorgeous.

Alfonso and Witney’s Rumba: I feel like I give a shout out to this team every week, but I can’t help myself. They’re my absolute favorite and this Rumba was gorgeous. This routine was a much quicker pace than the Rumba’s we’re used to on DWTS and I loved it. The quick tempo gave this dance an entirely fresh feel but it still held true to traditional Rumba lines, moves, and content. Miss Witney looked absolutely beautiful tonight – like a ghostly little angel! And Alfonso can swerve his hips for days! Lord have mercy!!!! Also, congratulations are in order to him and his expecting wife!

Unfortunately, these were the only two dances that really stuck out for me tonight. If you’ve read my previous reviews of DWTS, you’ll know that I don’t particularly care for Lea and Artem. Their Argentine Tango wasn’t bad tonight, it just wasn’t my cup of tea. Artem’s choreography was unique and different and I can appreciate that, however I didn’t care for the routine. And just because I didn’t give a special shout out to Tommy and Peta tonight, doesn’t mean I didn’t like his performance! His Quickstep was filled with cheeky fun and his kicks and flicks were on point! Bruno was right, “the seasoned magician still has a few tricks up his sleeve!” The Old Black Magic was definitely working in Tommy and Peta’s favor tonight. Mr. Tommy is the oldest celebrity at seventy-six to make it this far in the competition, so major props to him!

Now, onto my critiques and personal opinions of the dances I was not so thrilled with:

Sadie and Mark’s Paso Doble: In the words of my father, who I watch DWTS faithfully with every Monday night: “What was that?” Miss girl was absolutely over powered by this routine. Quite frankly, I can’t take a serious dance like the Paso seriously from a girl holding a teddy bear and a zombie. There was SO much happening in this routine, from the additional dancers and set changes that you could barely even tell what this dance was. It’s really too bad, because when given the opportunity to dance the Paso, the stars are given a chance to show their ability. Unfortunately, this routine showed no ability at all because of the business of the production. Whomp whomp.

Janel and Val’s Viennese Waltz: I actually quite liked the idea of this dance, but there wasn’t a lot of content in the routine. When the dancing was happening, I thought it looked terrific and Janel looked fabulous. That was actually my main and only thought on that performance. Aside from the fact that whomever was performing the song Secret by The Pierces sounded AWFUL. Squeaky squeaky squeakyyyyy. -_______- Having said that, Val looked fine as usual! I wouldn’t mind having a Val doll of my own! ;))

Michael and Emma’s Jive: Oh sweet lord. First off, let me say: I LOVE Michael. I think he’s hilarious, and he tries his best, and I’m a fan. But let’s face it. It’s week eight now, and like Len, I’m absolutely shocked that Michael is still truckin on through the competition. I respect the fact that he gives his all into every routine, but there’s a lot of people who got eliminated who could dance a whole lot better than him. It’s almost unfair that Jonathan and Antonio got the boot before him. Not saying that they were going to win, but they had a lot more to offer to the show. But clearly the fans love this team, so who am I to judge?! The only things I could think of while watching this Jive was “oh my god” (and not in the good way!) and of this classic SNL skit starring Will Ferrell where he happens to sing “The Devil Went Down to Georgia”.

So there you have it, my humble opinions on this Halloween themed episode of Dancing With The Stars. What was your favorite performance tonight? Do you think it was fair that Antonio got eliminated? Who do you think is going to win this season? Leave me a comment and let’s chat! Goodnight. -Sarah

Oct21

Dancing With The Stars – Week 6

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Dancing With The Stars – Week 6

Twas a fantastic Latin filled night on Dancing With The Stars tonight, AKA Middle Aged Monday, AKA MAM. There were a lot of hits and a lot of misses with our stars tonight, so let’s talk about some of the routines that I loved:

Jonathan & Allison (Jazz): This Men in Black themed routines was so much FUN! What a major improvement from the teams herky jerky Jive last week. Jonathan was sharp and each move was on point. Allison’s choreography was really fantastic as well, so shout out to her. There was some really cool fight scene inspired moves that I really appreciated. And can we talk about the lifts?! So clean! Jonathan had Allison in hold and he was NOT letting go. Not once did I worry that she was going to get dropped in the middle of a lift like I did last week. Unfortunately, sweet Jonathan’s improvement was too little too late, as he got eliminated tonight – but I commend him for this performance just the same. It was very, very grool. 🙂

Alfonso & Witney (Salsa): First of all, DYING over Alfonso stating that “I hurt my groin doing the Carlton”. Not laughing at his injury of course, that’s a shame, and I hope he recovers soon BUT I just think it’s so goofy that Alfonso got hurt from Calton-ing just a little too hard! I really just love Witney and Alfonso as a team in general. I think Witney is the most precious little thing in the world and her choreography is so fun and fresh. This Salsa was a booty-licious routine, but I do agree with Judge Julianne Hough on the fact that it was a little too much hip hop and not enough Salsa. In further performances I would love to see Witney delve deeper into more traditional routines, because Alfonso is so capable of doing them – as we could see last week during the switch up with Cheryl. You can see their Flamenco routine below:

Sadie & Mark (Rumba): Alright. Everyone who follows my blog knows that I don’t care for Sadie OR her family. However, this Rumba was FANTASTIC. I thought it was so sweet and I applaud Mark for choreographing the dance to make it so. Sadie’s lines in this routine was just gorgeous. Her limbs are so long that it looked like they reached for miles. Carrie Anne said that the teams Rumba was age appropriate, and I completely agree. Sadie is seventeen, if I’m not mistaken, and I thought that this dance was just lovely for a young woman.

Now, onto the dances that I didn’t care for, starting with:

Antonio & Cheryl (Salsa): Through out this entire season, I’ve never really been “blown away” by Antonio. This Salsa was kind of slow for me, and I feel like this season’s heart throb is just so stiff and uncomfortable in his dancing. He had the opportunity tonight to let loose and dance a sexy routine with the gorgeous Cheryl, and it just fell short. In other news, well wishes to Cheryl’s dad who suffered a seizure this past week. Good thoughts are being sent the Burke family’s way!

Lea & Artem (Salsa): There were some parts of this routine that were really fabulous. Specifically the lifts! Lea looked like an acrobat in Artem’s arms and she made it look so easy. So for that, you go girl! Having said that, and in agreement with the judges, Lea looked SO uncomfortable during this Salsa. Her face looked like a deer in headlights and there were some really awkward parts during this performance. When Lea separated into her solo with a bevy of female dancers, she did this really weird squatting move where she basically lifted her skirt up. Not cute. Not classy.

Tommy & Peta (Foxtrot): Don’t get me wrong, I love Tommy – I really do. But these past few weeks he’s been slipping. The judges unanimously agreed that Tommy improved from his disastrous switch up routine last week – and he did…but not by much. This performance was filled with missteps and mistakes that made their Foxtrot look quite choppy, rather than a continuous flow of movement. This opinion doesn’t take away from how much respect I have for Tommy though, he’s seventy-six years old and still doing the damn thing! I also have to add, that Miss Peta looked drop dead GORGEOUS tonight in her fuchsia dress! What a stunner. AND Cloris Leachman’s cameo in Tommy’s rehearsal package was hysterical! Too funny.

What did everyone think of tonight’s routines? What was your favorite performance? What was your least favorite? Did Jonathan deserve to go home in tonight’s elimination? Leave me a comment and let’s chat! Goodnight:) -Sarah

Sep23

Dancing With the Stars

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Dancing With the Stars

Middle Aged Monday is upon us again, with another solid episode of Dancing With the Stars tonight. Season 19 is starting out strong with a cast full of fun contestants. Not only do we have a great new cast, but we also have a new judge, Miss Julianne Hough. I absolutely adore her, as does my dad 😉 she’s just so talented and sweet, and she’s not hard on the eyes either! My personal fan favorite so far is Mr. Alfonso Ribeiro, best known as Carlton from the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. That man has swag. He has great musicality and he can really move! His partner, Witney is just fabulous as well. Her choreography is outstanding. Who knew that Alfonso could bust a move other than “the Carlton”?! My dad and I are also having a blast watching Tommy Chung, “the original stoner” perform. His partner in crime, Cheech makes guest appearances through out the show as well, so it’s always a riot watching both of them together. Tommy Chung is 76 years old, but he’s so young at heart! He doesn’t move like a senior citizen, that’s for sure. The fact that he can keep up with his partner, Peta Murgatroyd’s choreography is mind boggling…the fact that he somehow manages to look great performing the choreography is a natural phenomenon all on its own. I seriously live for Monday nights. I enjoy and value the time with my dad so very much. I really lucked out today because I was originally supposed to close at work, but my coworker asked me to switch with her, so I got to open the store and be home this evening to indulge in my Middle Aged Monday treat. Who are your favorites so far on the show? Who do you dislike? Any early predictions on who’s going to take home the Mirror Ball Trophy this season? Leave me a comment and let’s chat! -Sarah

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